Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-08-06
S.:sS ~ u:
A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE.
BY II. RIDER HAGGARD.

or now IL came 10 have been preserved in
the family. Ny poor friend Nincey had. il
will be remembered, told me that his 70
man ancestors finally settled in lombarGy,
ana when Charlcmagne invaded il returned
VITA him across the Alps, and made their
home in Brittany, whence they crossed to
England III the reign OF Edward the Con-
lessor. How he knew this | am not aware,
for there IS no reference To Lombarly or
Charlemagne upon the tile, though, az viii
presently be seen, there is "A reference to
Brittany. To continue: the next entries
on tac sherd, if ! may except a long splash
either OF blood or red coloring matter Of
some sort consists of two crosses drawn in
red pigments, and probably representing
Crusaders swords II an almost oblitcr-
ated monogram CD. W. in scarlet and
blue, perhaps executed by that same DO
rothea Nincey who wrote, or rather paint
ed, the doggerel couplct.
Then came what was perhaps as curious
an entry as anything upon this eXtraordin-
airy relic Of the past. II is executed in
black letter, writtel over tho crosses or
Crusaders swords, and dated fourteen
hundred and forty 1--WE. n tho best pl.2
will be TO allow IT TO speak for itself, ! here
give the original Latin, of course without
the contractions, from which it Will be
seen that the writer was q fair medieval
Latinist. Also VIZ discovered, what Is still
more curious, Il modernized version OF "a
black-icttcr translation of the Latin which
we found inscribed on a second parchment
that was in the Golfer, apparently older in
date han that on which was inscribed the
Latin black-letter translation OF the unical
Greek.
.1 Jy~uafA, &c y1a Jx,n1 7 oftDg. Tn
ScrtpttOn on the Sherd Of Am6nartdS.
''Ista |reliquiG est valde misticum ct my
rificum opus, quod majOres mel eN Atnor-
lea, %Scilicet Britannia Minorc, Secum con-
vehebant; ct Quidam sanCtus clericus SEM
per patri meo in manu- ferebat quOd penn
tus illud destrueret, qu0d esSct
alb ipso Sathana contiatum prestigiosa ct
dyabolica arte, quare pater meus conireglt
illud in duas parties, quas quidem ego Jo-
hanneS de NincetO SalyaS SefVavl ct adapta-
vi sicut apparel die lune proXimo post fcs-
tum beate Marie Virgins ami Cratic
MCCCCXLV."
Modcrntzed Version OF the Btdck-Letter
Translation.
'"Thys rellike vs. a ryghte mistycall worke
and n m~arvaylous, the whyche myne aun-
ceteres atorctyme dyd conVight hidcr with
them from Armorykee which Us to seien
Britaine the LeSse and Il ccrtayne hoIye
clerke should allweyes beare my fadir on
honde that he owghte uttirly for to irusshe
the same, al fyrmynge that Vt was tourmed
and cOniiatyd of SathauaS hym seize by
arte magike and dyVellysShe wherefore my
fadir dyd take the same and to-brast Vt yn
tweync, but |, John de NinCey, dyd save
whOOl the tWcyc parties thereof and to-
peecyd them togydder agayne soes a zee
Sc, on this daye mOndaye next tOlowynge
after the fecstc of Scynte Marye the Blessed
Tyfgync yu the ycere Of SalyaclOun tOWer-
tene hundreth and 1--WE ana ioWerti.'
The next and, save one, la9l entry, was
EliZabethan, and dated 1861: "A most
strange historic, and one th~t % cost my
father his life; for in seeEynge for the place
upon the east coast OF Africa, his plnnace
was sunk By q Portuguese galleon off Lor-
EMO Marquee, and he himself perished.-
JOHN VINCEY.
Then came Che last entry, apparently, TO
Judge by the style of writing, made 10y
some representative Of the family in the
middle Of the eighteenth century. 1t was
the well known quotation by Hamlet,
''There are more things in heaven and
earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,
Horatio." (Another thing hat makes me
fix the date of this entry at the middle OF
the eighteenth century is that | have an
acting copy of UamtGt, written about l140,
in which these two lines are misqu0ted al
most exactly in the same way, and | have
little doubt that the Nincey IA wrote
them on the potsherd may have heard them
so misquOtcd ut that date. Or course the
lines really run:
There are more things in heaven and earth
IlOratiO.
Than are dreamt Of in our philosophy
"Well," | said, when | had read these
paragraphs ont, az least those Of them that
were still lcgible, that is the conclusion
of the whole matter, Leo, and now youcan
form your own opinion on it. ! have al
ready formed mine
And what is itE' he asked, in his quick
way.
at is this. l believe that potsherd to be
perfectly genuine, and that, wonderful! as
it may seem, it has come down in you,
family since the fourth century before
Christ. The entries absolutely prove it
and therefore, however improbable it may
seem, it must be accepted. But there
stop. That your remote anccStresS, the
Egyptian Princess, or some scribe unuel
her direction, wrote that which we see or
the tile | have no doubt, nor have / The
slightest doubt but that her sullerings ane
the loss Of her husband had turned he
head, and that she was not right in he
mind when she did write it,
Glow do you account for what my fathe.
saw and heard there" asked Leo.
Coincidence. Nodoubt there are plent.
of bluffs on the coast of Africa that looi
something like a mans head, and plent.
of people who speak bastard Arabic. AIS
l believe that there are lots of swamps
Another thing is, Leo. and / am sorry Il
say it, but ! do not believe that your poo
father was quite right when he wrote tina
letter. He haG met with a great trouble
and also he had allowed thiss story to pre-.
on his Imagination, and he was a yer,
imaginative man. Any way, | believetha
the whole thing IS De most unmltigate'
rubbish. / know that there are curiou
things and forces in nature which we rare
" meet with, and when we do meet them
can not understand. But until | see 1t VIII
my own eyes. which am not likely TO,
never will believe that there is any mean
of avoiding death, even for a time, or ina
there is or was q white sOrceress living 1
the heart of an African swamp. 1t /
bosh, my boy, all bosh. What do you sa!
Job?"
IL say, sir, that it is a lie, and ii it IS tru
hope Mr.. Leo won't NEEDLE with no SIC
things, for no good can't come OF H."
perhaps you are both right" said Leo
in n quiet voice. 81 express no opinion
Rut I saw this am going to set the ma